10 ways to improve your syntax

1. Write the statements as consecutive sentences (juxtaposition1): “I went for a walk. I saw a
dinosaur.”

2. Add the second statement to the first using a coordinating conjunction2: “I went for a walk and
saw a dinosaur.” (The second statement does not stand on its own.)

3. Add the second statement to the first as an independent clause: “I went for a walk, and I saw a
dinosaur.” (The second statement stands on its own, which means it can be separated into two
sentences, as in the first example.)

4. Begin the sentence with a subordinate clause that turns the initial statement into a modifying
phrase that expands on the second statement: “While I was walking, I saw a dinosaur.”

5. Begin with the second statement and reword the first statement as a modifying phrase that
follows it: “I saw a dinosaur on my walk this morning.”

6. Insert a nonessential phrase, which must be bracketed by commas, one of two ways: Locate
the phrase between a pair of independent clauses (but after the coordinating conjunction), each
consisting of one of the two statements: “I went for a walk and, to my surprise, I saw a dinosaur.”
(Notice that “to my surprise,” which can be omitted without altering the sentence’s meaning, modifies
the second statement and so must follow and; note that the comma preceding the coordinating
conjunction can be omitted.) Or, separate two statements with a nonessential phrase inserted before
the coordinating conjunction: “I went for a walk, following my usual route, and I saw a dinosaur.”
(Notice that “following my usual route,” which would not alter the sentence’s meaning if omitted,
modifies the first statement, and so must precede and.)

7. Emphasize a nonessential phrase by bracketing it with em dashes 3 to indicate an interruption

of thought: “I went for a walk and — no, I was not hallucinating — I saw a dinosaur.” (Alternatively,
to deemphasize the phrase, or for humorous effect, enclose it in parentheses.)

8. Insert an essential clause4 — one whose absence would alter the meaning of the sentence —
between two statements: “I went for the walk that I always take after work and saw a dinosaur.”

9. Attach a variation of the second statement to the first5, preceded by a semicolon when the
second statement is an independent clause that is nevertheless closely related to the first
one: “I went for a walk; to my surprise a dinosaur was grazing along my route.”

1
Juxtaposition: The act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect.
2
Coordinating conjunction can be easily learned using the following word: FANBOYS
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
3
The em dash is a punctuation mark that can be used instead of parentheses, commas, colons, or quotation marks in a sentence. The em dash (—) sets off
a word or clause and adds emphasis.
4
Defining Relative clauses.
5
Verbal phrases do the trick here since they can have every syntactic function and are very natural to native speakers.
 10. Separate two statements with a semicolon when the second statement is preceded by a
conjunctive adverb or an adverbial phrase, which requires a subsequent comma: “I went for a
walk; unexpectedly, I saw a dinosaur along the way.”

Conjunctive adverbs
These go:
I. between two independent clauses after a semicolon but before a comma, or in the front-position if they begin a
sentence looking back at the text:

It was a rather nice book; nevertheless, someone stole it from my locker.

We are friends. Moreover, we love each other.

II. between commas in the mid- or end-position functioning as a parenthetical expression:

He loves her. She, however, left him a year ago.

We were supposed to arrive early, indeed.

III. and in the end-position preceded by a comma:

You can come with us, too.